


Snow

by feins



Series: A Lighter Path [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: A LONG while, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen, I make no promises, although it may not look that way at first, fluff fluff and fluff, friendship and hugs and cuddles, friendship fic, fwp (fluff without plot), there is some plot but not really what this fic is about, warning: may take a while to finish
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-19
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2020-07-08 11:34:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19868956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feins/pseuds/feins
Summary: Zuko joins the Gaang.





	Snow

**Author's Note:**

> _And surely some way_   
>  _I shall repay the love you gave_
> 
> ([x](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ftvhJo1coc))

It has been two weeks since Katara has healed him. Two weeks since he and his uncle have joined the Avatar’s friends, two weeks of being at sea, among Water Tribe warriors who have slowly, begrudgingly accepted their presence.

Two weeks since Ba Sing Se has fallen.

Two weeks since any of them had last seen the Avatar, Aang.

Both Katara and Sokka had sent missives to the Eastern Air Temple, but there had been no response. Not even a single air bison sighting had been reported. It has been two weeks, and he can feel the worry, the dismay, the despair settle over all of them like a cloud. The Eastern Air Temple is on the other side of the Earth Kingdom after all, and the ship’s course is directed straight towards the Fire Nation. All of them can only hope that Aang will be there, at the rendezvous point Katara and Sokka had specified. But it was so very strange that he should have disappeared.

Perhaps the most disconcerting of all, however, are the rumours that had reached their ears the last time they had made dock, under the disguise of a Fire Nation vessel. “The Avatar is dead”, the people of the island colony had whispered among themselves, in the market, on the streets. “The Avatar has been killed by _Azula_.”

That, at least, he knows for himself is false. He was there, after all, when his uncle had come to rescue him. The three of them, Katara included, had barely escaped with their lives but escape they had, trapping Azula and her Dai Li guards in the Catacombs in the process, though not for long apparently. It is only a matter of time before Fire Nation troops come to occupy the city, if they are not there already.

So why would Azula say that she had slain the Avatar? What purpose would there be in _lying_ so?

He cannot understand it. His sister is many things, but a fool she is not, and there is always a reason behind her every action. He can think of no sensible one for her spreading such a falsehood, when she has nothing, nothing to prove it. Perhaps she could fool _him_ if she tried, but not their father. She wouldn’t dare to.

Which only means someone else must have begun the rumours, but why? And on what basis?

It will be a few days before they reach land again and their last port had been too risky for them to stay long and probe further, so it is instead more days of restlessness and harried concern, especially from Katara. It was not like Aang after all, to be keeping away for so long. What if something _had_ happened to him?

She is especially distraught. He wishes he could do something to allay her fears, to help her, but he has never been good with words, and besides, he does not know much more than she, and certainly is no authority on the Avatar like she is. He does not know what comfort he can provide, and he has spent too much of his life hating useless platitudes to begin giving it to others now. All he can give her, he thinks, is faith. Not in the gods, who have so often failed to hear him, or even the spirits, but in the Avatar, in herself, and in her friends. They have overcome every obstacle that has been set in their way; the Avatar has always come through.

More than that, Katara has always believed in him, even Zuko had seen that when they were still on opposing sides. She had believed in the Avatar, and she must continue to believe, still. She does.

Her conviction draws him like a moth to the flame. In truth, however, he has found himself naturally gravitating to her side whenever she is in his general presence, or in his line of sight. He, who has never willingly sought to acquaint himself with, well, _anyone_ , since his father had sent him on his terrible quest, has in a short amount of time become a friend. He had learnt so much of her, but now he thinks he is really beginning to _know_ her. He is glimpsing more and more of her beliefs, her desires, her ambitions, each time they have a conversation, which is happening more and more these days.

It is so easy for him to let his inhibitions down around her, so strong is his want, and so weak is his will to resist. Every day that he can see, can look at himself in the mirror and observe what his face has become, he thinks of her. He could not ignore her if he wanted to, and he does not want to. Sometimes the dark voice in his head wonders if she finds him annoying, following her around as he does like some sort of lovestruck sheep-kitten, but it is always silenced with every moment that he blinks and his left eye responds instantaneously, that he smiles and his cheek is not sore, that the pads of his fingers touch clear, healthy skin instead of rough, deadened scar tissue. It is altogether a strange and wonderful circumstance that he has walked into, but though he is still far from used to it, the growing bubble of happiness within his chest is something he wants to keep. If it means he must stay by Katara’s side, he will gladly do so.

Besides, he thinks reminding her what she has done for him with his presence alone seems to calm her or even cheer her somewhat. She often has a smile for him, and he just as often smiles right back.

It is a stormy night when they understand at last, though. The Avatar is not coming.

**Author's Note:**

> _We all make mistakes_   
>  _It's all about the paths we take_   
>  _Leave behind the pain you've known_   
>  _And open up your heart so you can live and learn_


End file.
